


Thestrals

by TheArrow



Series: The Problem With Nargles (1995, Luna's 4th Year) [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Character Study, Gen, Hogsmeade, Kindred Spirits, Loneliness, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Thestrals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-05 00:03:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13375878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheArrow/pseuds/TheArrow
Summary: “I can see them, too, you know.”Luna realises that she is not the only one who can see them. September 1995, Hogsmeade Station.





	Thestrals

**Author's Note:**

> Short little exercise to flesh out Luna and her perspective, attempting to write her in a believable way. Dialogue will seem familiar as much of it is lifted straight from Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, with some small changes.

****Eventually the Hogwarts Express pulls to its final stop. The students gather their belongings and familiars before disembarking in a disorganised fashion into the brisk Scottish evening.

Luna offers Harry some help carrying a second owl cage off the train. They carry their things along the platform, and Luna follows him as best she can through the crowd to the carriages. Everything smells of damp pine needles, and the hot steam from the train. September is cool in this part of the world, especially at night.

She keeps relatively close to Harry in the crowd of students since she is carrying his friend’s owl, but she can’t hear what he whispers to Ginny or what he is saying. He looks out for Ron and Hermione, but they have gone slightly ahead.

They walk off the platform of Hogsmeade station and onto the wet muddy path where the thestral-drawn carriages await the students. Luna can’t help the smile that settles on her face. They’ve always filled her with a sense of calm, the thestrals. Well, almost always. She approaches the carriages that Harry Potter and his friends have approached, and notices something extraordinary.

Harry Potter is looking _at_ a thestral.

Luna has never met another student who can see them, though she is sure that there must be a few.

“I haven’t got Pig yet!” Ron calls out hoarsely, his back turned to her. Luna wonders if the owl that she is holding is called “Pig”.

Luna makes a cooing noise at the little owl in the cage she holds up to her face. The owl chirps cacophonously in response. “You’re quite charming, aren’t you?” Luna whispers, before getting closer to Harry and his waiting friend.

“What _are_ those things, d’you reckon?” Harry asks  Ron, still staring at the thestrals. Her heart skips a beat. 

“What things?” Ron answers.

“Those horses—“

“Here you are,” Luna interrupts serenely, holding up the owl cage, “He’s a sweet little owl, isn’t he?”

“Er, yeah, he’s all right.” Ron does not seem pleased to see her, or even his owl, again. “Well, come on, then, let’s get in… What were you saying, Harry?”

“I was saying, what are these horse things?” Harry asks. Ron takes the cage from Luna, but stares with concern at his friend.

“What horse things?” Ron asks, glancing up at the carriage that Ginny and Hermione are waiting in. Luna waits, curious to hear what he will say.

“The horse things pulling the carriages!” snaps Harry.

Ron protests that he doesn’t see anything, no matter how much closer Harry drags Ron to the carriage harness. Luna places her trunk onto the back of the carriage, but instead of getting in she approaches Harry instead. Ron has already stepped into the carriage, but Harry is staring at the thestrals with a frustrated look on his face.

She can hear the thestral breathing, quite horselike, a warm rush of air expelled from its nose. Luna reaches out her hand and, very delicately, touches the creature’s shoulder, before looking at Harry, who looks particularly distraught. 

“It’s all right,” she wants to sound as reassuring as possible, for the creature’s sake as well. Harry whirls around at the sound of her voice, and she can see into those famed green eyes of his, reflecting the yellow light of the lanterns perched on top of the carriages. “You’re not going mad or anything,” she soothes, “I can see them, too, you know.”

“Can you?” he looks at her like he did back on the train, when he asked to look at her copy of The Quibbler. Like she matters.

She thinks that he has lovely eyes.

“Oh yes,” she tells him conversationally, smiling, “I’ve been able to see them since my very first day here. They’ve always pulled the carriages. Don’t worry. You’re just as sane as I am.”

He frowns at that, but says nothing. She smiles once more for him before she turns and walks to the carriage, noticing that tight feeling in her chest which has returned, leaving her a little breathless.

It does reassure her a little when Harry follows her into the carriage. She tries not to let it bother her that Harry looks so perturbed and uncomfortable as he sits down next to her. Hermione shoots him a look of concern. Ginny is also looking at Harry, a fact which does not pass unnoticed by Luna. And though Harry can scarcely tear his gaze from the thestrals as they pull the carriage away from the station and towards the castle, she does notice that he occasionally sends furtive glances her way, which she pretends not to notice. She made him uncomfortable enough on the train.

She knows how the thestrals must feel, to be invisible for so long, until suddenly it all changes.


End file.
